No. 55 (2022): Literaturas de expressão feminina: além do tempo e do espaço

Over the last years, as a reflection of contemporary world issues that have raised feminist movements such as Me too, there has also been a greater interest in the literature of female expression in the academic scenario. With the pandemic, literature written by women has gained space beyond the academy, as seen by the number of book clubs, pages on social networks and digital influencers dedicated to reading and discussing both works by female authors of classics of universal literature, as well as contemporary Brazilian or foreign authors.

Starting with Mary Wollstonecrafts's groundbreaking work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman from 1794, which influenced all 19th century thinking, as well as the pioneering spirit of Jane Austen, who, among many other issues, questioned the condition of women in that society that was entering agrarian capitalism, with the only possibility of survival depending on a successful marriage, passing through other great writers such as the Brontë sisters, Mary Shelley, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott, the 19th century is consolidated as an inaugural and powerful moment with regard to literature written by women. Whereas the 20th century brings new waves of feminism, imperative voices such as Virginia Woolf claiming A Roof of One's Own (1929) for the modern woman, while questioning the feminine literary tradition.

The present dossier aims to propose a reflection on the bases of literature of female expression, from the 19th century, through the 20th century, and on its importance in the history of literature, until arriving at contemporary discussions that involve an intersectional debate of gender, race and class.